2026 Tesla Model Y

The Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) is opening this Engineering Analysis to evaluate Tesla’s Full Self Driving Beta and Full Self Driving (Supervised) (collectively, FSD) degradation detection system. The focus of this investigation will be to assess the system’s ability, when encountering reduced roadway visibility conditions, to detect degradation and alert the driver with sufficient time to respond. ODI will evaluate the performance of FSD in degraded roadway conditions and the updates or modifications by Tesla to the degradation detection system, including the timing, purpose, and capabilities of the updates, and Tesla’s assessment of their safety impact. Tesla’s FSD is an advanced driver assistance system (ADAS) that relies exclusively on vision-based cameras and the related FSD software to detect and respond to the roadway ahead, projecting a path forward based on traffic control devices, vehicles, pedestrians, and the roadway itself. When Tesla began transitioning away from using both cameras and radars to an exclusively camera-based approach, known as Tesla Vision, in mid-2021, it developed and implemented a degradation detection system that it deployed by a software update to existing and new Tesla vehicles. On June 28, 2024, the day after Tesla submitted the SGO report of the November 28, 2023 fatal crash listed in this document, Tesla began developing an update to the degradation detection system. At this time, ODI does not have information on when the update was deployed and which vehicles have the updated system. ODI discussed individual incidents and its initial findings during the PE phase of its investigation with Tesla. As part of those discussions, Tesla’s post-incident analysis indicated that the update to the degradation detection system, had it been installed on the vehicles at the time, may have affected 3 of the 9 incidents identified by ODI. Tesla also described internal data and labeling limitations that prevented a uniform identification and analysis of crash events with the subject system engaged. ODI believes this limitation could have led to under-reporting of subject crashes over portions of the defined time-period. Available incident data raise concerns that Tesla’s degradation detection system, both as originally deployed and later updated, fails to detect and/or warn the driver appropriately under degraded visibility conditions such as glare and airborne obscurants. In the crashes that ODI has reviewed, the system did not detect common roadway conditions that impaired camera visibility and/or provide alerts when camera performance had deteriorated until immediately before the crash occurred. Review of Tesla’s responses revealed additional crashes that occurred in similar environments and where the system either did not detect a degraded state, and/or it did not present the driver with an alert with adequate time for the driver to react. In each of these crashes, FSD also lost track of or never detected a lead vehicle in its path. In upgrading PE24031 to an Engineering Analysis (EA), ODI will gather further information on the updated degradation detection system, including the status of updating vehicles and scope of compatible vehicles, the system’s visibility degradation detection capability, and alerts or warnings to the driver. Lastly, ODI will conduct analysis on six recent potentially related incidents. These incidents can be found at NHTSA.gov under the following SGO report identification numbers: 13781-11937, 13781-13211, 13781-13569, 13781-13633, 13781-13693, 13781-13788. The crashes included in the failure report summary can be found at NHTSA.gov under the following SGO report identification numbers: 13781-8004, 13781-7181, 13781-7381, 13781-7767, 13781-7964, 13781-8977, 13781-9267.

The Office of Defects Investigation (“ODI”) is opening this Preliminary Evaluation (PE) to assess the scope, frequency, and potential safety consequences of FSD executing driving maneuvers that constitute traffic safety violations. This investigation concerns versions of FSD that Tesla has labeled as "FSD (Supervised)" and "FSD (Beta)." Tesla characterizes FSD as an SAE Level 2 partial automation system requiring a fully attentive driver who is engaged in the driving task at all times. Level 2 partial automation systems are designed to support and assist the driver in performing certain aspects of the driving task, requiring a driver to supervise and intervene as necessary.  The driver remains fully responsible at all times for driving the vehicle, including complying with applicable traffic laws. ODI’s investigation will therefore focus, in particular, on whether certain driving inputs within the control authority of FSD forestall the driver’s supervision when they are unexpectedly performed. ODI has identified a number of incidents in which the inputs to the dynamic driving task commanded by FSD induced vehicle behavior that violated traffic safety laws. Although reports of this nature span a variety of behaviors, the reports appear to most commonly involve two types of scenarios. The first type of scenario involves a vehicle operating with FSD proceeding into an intersection in violation of a red traffic signal. The second type of scenario involves FSD commanding a lane change into an opposing lane of traffic. With respect to the first type of scenario, ODI has identified 18 complaints and 1 media report alleging that a Tesla vehicle, operating at an intersection with FSD engaged, failed to remain stopped for the duration of a red traffic signal, failed to stop fully, or failed to accurately detect and display the correct traffic signal state in the vehicle interface. Some complainants also alleged that FSD did not provide warnings of the system's intended behavior as the vehicle was approaching a red traffic signal. ODI has identified six Standing General Order ("SGO") reports in which a Tesla vehicle, operating with FSD engaged, approached an intersection with a red traffic signal, continued to travel into the intersection against the red light and was subsequently involved in a crash with other motor vehicles in the intersection. Of these incidents, four crashes resulted in one or more reported injuries. At least some of the incidents appeared to involve FSD proceeding into the intersection after coming to a complete stop. ODI's pre-investigative work, including coordination with the Maryland Transportation Authority and State Police, indicated that the problem may be repeatable, given that multiple subject incidents occurred at the same intersection in Joppa, Maryland. NHTSA understands that Tesla has since taken action to address the issue at this intersection. With respect to the second type of scenario, ODI has identified 2 SGO reports, 18 complaints, and 2 media reports alleging that a Tesla vehicle, operating with FSD engaged, entered opposing lanes of travel during or following a turn, crossed double-yellow lane markings while proceeding straight, or attempted to turn onto a road in the wrong direction despite the presence of wrong-way road signs. Likewise, ODI has identified 4 SGO reports, 6 complaints, and 1 media report alleging that a Tesla vehicle, operating with FSD engaged, proceeded straight through an intersection in a turn-only lane or executed a turn at an intersection in a through lane despite the presence of lane markings or signals. Complaints also alleged that FSD did not provide warnings of the system's intended behavior. Some complaints alleged that more than one of these failures occurred and, as such, the numbers are not cumulative. Some of the reported incidents appeared to involve FSD executing a lane change into an opposing lane of travel with little notice to a driver or opportunity to intervene. ODI’s review will assess whether there was prior warning or adequate time for the driver to respond to the unexpected behavior or to safely supervise the automated driving task. This review will assess any warnings to the driver about the system's impending behavior; the time given to drivers to respond; the capability of FSD to detect, display to the driver, and respond appropriately to traffic signals; and the capability of FSD to detect and respond to lane markings and wrong-way signage. NHTSA's review will also consider any updates or modifications to the system(s) that may affect the performance of FSD with respect to obeying traffic safety laws and signals. This assessment will focus, in particular, on the types of traffic safety violations described above, as most reports identified thus far have centered around those behaviors. While the behaviors under investigation appear to occur most frequently at intersections, NHTSA’s investigation will encompass any other types of situations in which this behavior may arise, such as when traveling adjacent to a lane of opposing traffic or when approaching railroad crossings. If other evidence received during this investigation involve other types of traffic safety violations, those may be considered as part of this assessment as well. To review the ODI reports cited in the Opening Resume ODI Report Identification Number document, go to NHTSA.gov. The SGO reports cited in this Resume are listed below by report ID and are available for download at NHTSA.gov/laws-regulations/standing-general-order-crash-reporting. 13781-8739-1, 13781-8995-1, 13781-9623-1, 13781-10333-1, 13781-10872-1, 13781-10930-1, 13781-10939-1, 13781-10941-1, 13781-11069-1, 13781-11305-1, 13781-11579-1 Media reported allegations included as a separate attachment.

The Office of Defects Investigation (“ODI”) has identified numerous incident reports submitted by Tesla, Inc. (“Tesla”) in response to Standing General Order 2021-01 (the “SGO”), in which the reported crashes occurred several months or more before the dates of the reports. The majority of these reports involved crashes in which the Standing General Order in place at the time required a report to be submitted within one or five days of Tesla receiving notice of the crash. When the reports were submitted, Tesla submitted them in one of two ways. Many of the reports were submitted as part of a single batch, while others were submitted on a rolling basis. Preliminary engagement between ODI and Tesla on the issue indicates that the timing of the reports was due to an issue with Tesla’s data collection, which, according to Tesla, has now been fixed. NHTSA is opening this Audit Query, a standard process for reviewing compliance with legal requirements, to evaluate the cause of the potential delays in reporting, the scope of any such delays, and the mitigations that Tesla has developed to address them. As part of this review, NHTSA will assess whether any reports of prior incidents remain outstanding and whether the reports that were submitted include all of the required and available data. The SGO reports cited in the Opening Resume, can be found at NHTSA.gov/SGOCrashReporting under the following SGO 2021-01 report IDs: 13781-11020-1 13781-10844-1 13781-10843-1 13781-10530-1 13781-10160-1 13781-10159-1 13781-10157-1 13781-10146-1 13781-10122-1 13781-10098-1 13781-10097-1 13781-10096-1 13781-10095-1 13781-10094-1 13781-10093-1 13781-10023-1 13781-10022-1 13781-10021-1 13781-10020-1 13781-10017-1 13781-10016-1 13781-10015-1 13781-10014-1 13781-10013-1 13781-10012-1 13781-6047-1 13781-9930-1 13781-9917-1 13781-9928-1 13781-9925-1 13781-9924-1 13781-9923-1 13781-9922-1 13781-9835-1 13781-9834-1 13781-9833-1 13781-9832-1 13781-9831-1 13781-9830-1 13781-9829-1 13781-9827-1 13781-9818-1 13781-9780-1 13781-9779-1 13781-9778-1 13781-9777-1 13781-9775-1 13781-9774-1 13781-9773-1 13781-9772-1 13781-9771-1 13781-9770-1 13781-9728-1 13781-9688-1 13781-9715-1 13781-9714-1 13781-9713-1 13781-9712-1 13781-9711-1 13781-9710-1 13781-9709-1 13781-9696-1 13781-9695-1 13781-9694-1 13781-9693-1 13781-9692-1 13781-9691-1 13781-9690-1 13781-9687-1 13781-9686-1 13781-9342-1 13781-9319-1 13781-9019-1 13781-8910-1 13781-8732-1 13781-8712-1 13781-8310-1 13781-7897-1 13781-7895-1 13781-7835-1 13781-7798-1 13781-7797-1 13781-7758-1 13781-7757-1 13781-7756-1 13781-7755-1 13781-7667-1 13781-7399-1 13781-7398-1 13781-7397-1 13781-7396-1 13781-7395-1 13781-7394-1 13781-7393-1 13781-7389-1 13781-7388-1 13781-7387-1 13781-7386-1 13781-7385-1 13781-7383-1 13781-7187-1 13781-7186-1 13781-7185-1 13781-7184-1 13781-7181-1 13781-7023-1 13781-6399-1 13781-6389-1 13781-6388-1 13781-6387-1 13781-6386-1 13781-6379-1 13781-6378-1 13781-6377-1 13781-6375-1 13781-6214-1 13781-6172-1 13781-6155-1 13781-6154-1 13781-6122-1 13781-6120-1 13781-6118-1 13781-5800-1

On January 6, 2025, the Office of Defects Investigations (ODI) opened Preliminary Evaluation 24003 (PE24033) to investigate Actually Smart Summon (Summon) sessions resulting in crashes during active sessions. According to Tesla, Summon is a short-distance SAE Level 2 system, controlled by the user from a cell phone within a certain distance and intended for use in parking lots and on private property. ODI analyzed complaint data provided by Tesla as well as complaints submitted to ODI from consumers to identify Summon incidents resulting in crashes. ODI's analysis indicates that almost all Summon reported crashes involved minor property damage claims with no reported incidents involving a vulnerable road user, injury, fatality, or major property damage as indicated by an air bag deployment or vehicle tow away. Out of millions of Summon sessions, a fraction of 1% resulted in an incident. Almost all those incidents took place where, typically early in a Summon session, the system or person using the app failed to fully detect or respond appropriately to vehicle surroundings resulting in minor impacts. Incidents took place when app users did not have a complete 360-degree view of the surroundings in the app to assess situational awareness. This limited the app user’s ability to determine whether an impact was imminent during initial vehicle maneuvers such as reversing in close proximity to an obstacle or a curb. ODI found that the impacts most often occurred with parking gates, adjacently parked vehicles, and short parking bollards. During this investigation, ODI identified two Summon crashes related to camera blockages. In both crashes, Summon attempted to navigate a snowy parking lot with snow partially or fully obstructing the forward-facing cameras. Summon did not detect the camera blockage and the vehicles collided with unoccupied parked vehicles while navigating the parking lot. App users in both instances did not command a vehicle stop or pause despite the obstructed camera visible in the camera stream in the app. On January 15, 2025, Tesla released Over-the-Air (OTA) Software (SW) Update Action numbers 578998 and 579185 for vehicles in service to implement a camera blockage detection condition. Both OTAs improve camera blockage detection mechanisms. Additionally, on January 20, 2025, and January 30, 2025, Tesla identified additional system requirements associated with camera visibility checks and released OTA SW-578752 and SW-580322, respectively. These firmware updates reduce false negative camera blockage detections due to snow or condensation. In its investigation, ODI identified one Summon incident where the vehicle did not yield for a gate arm blocking a garage exit lane and the app user did not command a vehicle stop or pause, resulting in an impact. On February 6, 2025, Tesla deployed OTA SW-578839 to improve vehicle reaction to dynamic gates. This OTA update upgraded vehicle perception systems through a high-fidelity occupancy determination network, which uses data from vehicle sensory systems to improve reconstruction of field objects with high accuracy. On November 20, 2025, Tesla further improved vehicle performance by adding object detections from a separate neural network through OTA SW-580514. Owners of the affected vehicles received all six OTA SW updates. Tesla also released these SW updates to production vehicles. See online public file for detailed descriptions of all six OTA SW updates. Due to low incident occurrence and low incident severity, this preliminary evaluation is closed. The closing of this investigation does not constitute a finding that a safety-related defect does not exist. The agency reserves the right to take additional action if warranted by future circumstances. For additional information regarding this investigation, see the complete online public file.

Car is less than a year old and forward camera is reporting visibility problem. Safety features, forward collision and autonomous driving is severely degraded. Tesla will not repair under warranty which requires disassembly of the camera housing. Front camera housing has been redesigned by Tesla but they are not retrofitting this fix for existing Model Y and have not issues a safety recall. This camera housing defect presents a risk to my safely and the safety of others.

NHTSA ID

11756419

Incident

Aug 9, 2026

I am submitting this complaint to report what I believe is a potential safety defect involving the Tesla Autopark feature on my 2026 Tesla Model Y Premium All-Wheel Drive. On 7/21/26 at approximately 7:40 a.m., I activated Autopark to park my vehicle in my driveway. A transit van was already parked nearby and remained stationary throughout the parking maneuver. While Autopark was controlling the vehicle, my Tesla continued reversing and failed to stop before striking the parked transit van. The collision caused damage to the right rear passenger side of my vehicle. Based on what I observed, the vehicle did not recognize or respond appropriately to the presence of the stationary van. This raises serious concerns regarding the ability of the Autopark system to detect nearby stationary vehicles and avoid collisions during low-speed automated parking. Although I understand that Tesla states the driver must supervise Autopark, I am concerned that the system continued reversing into an obvious stationary obstacle rather than warning the driver or stopping before impact. I respectfully request that Tesla: Preserve all vehicle diagnostic logs, camera data, and sensor data from approximately 7:40 a.m. on the date of the incident. Conduct a full engineering review of the Autopark event. Determine why the vehicle failed to detect or avoid the parked transit van. Advise whether this incident resulted from a software issue, hardware issue, sensor limitation, or another system malfunction. Provide me with a written response and a case number confirming that this has been recorded as a formal vehicle safety complaint. I am prepared to provide photographs, dashcam footage (if available), the exact incident location, repair estimates, and any additional information required to assist with your investigation. Thank you.

NHTSA ID

11756048

Incident

Jul 21, 2026

While returning the Tesla during a demo drive, the car suddenly braked extremely hard in the middle of the road for no reason. It was bright and sunny, and we were coming up to a green light. It caused me to slam my head back into the seat. There was seemingly no reason for the emergency braking, and if someone were behind me, it would have caused a collision.

NHTSA ID

11755731

Incident

Aug 9, 2026

Tesla was in FSD and had the latest software update installed on 8/6/28 which included the new FSD version released. On 8/7/28 on the way to work that my wife takes every time she goes to work the FSD ran over a large pot hole which it had never done before on the previous FSD version. The car started having rattling of the steering wheel and a rattling noise from over the rear driver wheel area. The next available Tesla service appointment was on 8/27 but we walked in and Tesla offered to do an alignment and found that the driver front and rear rims were bent from the pothole and we had to be pay close to 1800$. Thereafter, the rattling over the rear wheel well is louder but Tesla has not accommodated us with an earlier service appointment and refused to make any accommodations for the FSD update resulting in this damage.

NHTSA ID

11755680

Incident

Aug 7, 2026

I was driving the car inside the parking garage of the UCLA Medical Plaza in Westwood at around 3:10pm on XXX, looking for an appropriate parking spot. When entering the second basement floor and turning the steering wheel right, to follow the road, the steering wheel was unresponsive and the car felt as if in neutral gear. As the car was on a downward slope, it went straight into the car parked in front. It happened so fast, but it seemed as if the brakes were ineffective. The air bags on the sides were deployed. On the front, the airbag in the steering wheel came out but did not inflate. [XXX] INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

NHTSA ID

11755387

Incident

Aug 3, 2026

My car locked itself with the phone key and the key card sitting in the car. My baby was trapped in the back seat. Eventually, I was able to get a hold of my husband and he was able to unlock the car from the app. I was talking to 911 when he saw my messages and unlocked the car. I think poor cell reception may have been the cause.

NHTSA ID

11755383

Incident

Aug 6, 2026

While using FSD feature continuously for more than 45 minutes without stopping the system locks on to the previous road speed limit and freezes and the car ignores any new different speed limits and runs into FULLY ROUGE MODE...and almost ran into a pedestrian without slowing down. Example - if road speed limit is 45 mph and car driving between 45-50 mph and when the road speed limit drops to 35 or 25 mph car continues to run at 45-50 mph. ex2: if car running at 35 mph and later enters highway the car continues at 35 mph on highway where speed is 65 mph and likely to cause accident. The tesla does not have any forum or email support or phone support to address this issue and says it will reset if i stop on highway and wait for 15 mins to reset and then start again. This occurs every time if you drive continuously without stopping ( turning off car) for 45 min or more

NHTSA ID

11755367

Incident

Aug 6, 2026

On the highway, a vehicle in the lane next to me on the right moved towards the white dividing line, but never actually crossed into my lane. My Tesla was operating on Full Self-Driving (Supervised). The system miscalculated the front vehicle's trajectory and severely overreacted to it approaching the line. Without driver input, the FSD system initiated sudden, heavy braking and violently swerved to the left, crossing the lane line. Because the Tesla swerved suddenly into the left lane, the driver already occupying that lane was unable to avoid a collision, striking the left rear corner of my vehicle. I have video recordings from my Tesla that provides objective proof that the vehicle in front did not sideswipe or cut off my car, but rather that an abrupt vehicle automation failure forced my car out of its lane, I had no chance to react quick enough to avoid the accident. It also provides context as to why the driver behind me could not avoid the impact. I have preserved the video files and am ready to submit them to you immediately. Best regards [XXX] INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

NHTSA ID

11755281

Incident

Jun 17, 2026

On some vehicles, degraded or excessive glue under the front seat cushion(s) may cause creaking noises during cornering or when pressing on the seat cushion(s). Upon customer complaint, inspect the vehicle for symptoms related to the condition. If symptoms are present, rework the front seat cushion(s).

On some vehicles, insufficient lubricant at the front seat recliner tube ends may cause creaking noises during weight shifting when the seat is occupied. Upon customer complaint, inspect the vehicle for symptoms related to the condition. If symptoms are present, lubricate the front seat recliner tube ends.

Some Model Y vehicles may emit rattling or knocking noises when driving over bumps or rough road. The condition can be improved by replacing the front upper control arm mounts, replacing the front damper assemblies (Model Y Premium and Performance only), and removing the wiper bracket pencil braces. Inspect the vehicle for symptoms related to the condition. If symptoms are present, replace the front upper control arm mounts with updated parts, replace the front damper assemblies with updated parts (Model Y Premium and Performance only), and remove the wiper bracket pencil braces.

Certain Model Y vehicles may emit rattling or knocking noises when driving over bumps or rough road. The condition can be improved by replacing the front upper control arm mounts, replacing the front damper assemblies, and removing the wiper bracket pencil braces. This document is for vehicles that have already had the front upper control mounts replaced and the wiper bracket pencil braces removed. Replace the front damper assemblies with updated parts.

On some vehicles, the LH and/or RH front seat backrest blower(s) may emit a loud grinding noise in the shoulder area of the backrest when front seat cooling is enabled. Inspect the vehicle for symptoms related to the condition. If symptoms are present, replace the LH and/or RH front seat backrest blower(s).

On some Model Y vehicles, water may ingress into the front fascia camera via the channels on the front fascia harness. This may corrode the camera connector or submerge the camera lens, which results in camera alerts and possible loss of the front fascia camera feed. Inspect the vehicle for symptoms related to the condition. If symptoms are present, replace the front fascia harness and the front fascia camera.